This invention relates generally to gas distribution systems and more particularly concerns the interconnection of consumer and supplier gas service risers at gas meter junctions.
In the connection of residential and commercial gas distribution systems, the gas company typically provides an above ground service connection including a shut off valve and a riser end plug, which remain intact until the gas meter is installed. The customer provides a consumer service connection which also includes a riser end plug. Sometime after both risers are installed, the gas company connects its meter between the gas service connection and the consumer service connection.
Since the tasks of supplier installation, consumer installation and meter installation are performed by different people at different times, frequently with extended intervals in between, problems recur with respect to such systems. First of all, the riser end plugs used to seal supplier and consumer connections are typically steel plugs which tend to rust, corrode and seize to the pipe installation, eventually requiring the breaking and replacement of pipe bends and meter swivels in order to connect the meter. A second problem occurs when the supplier connection and the consumer connection are improperly spaced, resulting in additional fittings and labor by the gas company in installing the meter as well as an unsightly looking meter connection. Third, even when the connections are properly spaced at their initial installation, temperature changes, ground shifts, icing and thawing and other factors cause the connections to shift in the absence of a connecting meter, resulting in misalignment of the connections. This not only occurs prior to initial installation of the meter, but also occurs if, for various reasons, an installed meter may have been removed for a substantial period of time.
It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide an alignment device that assures proper spacing of supplier and consumer connections prior to connection to a gas meter. It is also among the objects of the present invention to provide an alignment device that is lightweight, rust-free, reusable, easy to install, inexpensive, strong and conforming to code requirements for such installations.